Complications following living-related and cadaveric liver transplantation in 100 children

Pathologic Analysis of Right-Lobe Graft Failure in Adult-to-Adult Live Donor Liver Transplantation

Live donor adult liver transplantation (LDALT) utilizing right-lobe grafts is now acceptable as an alternative to cadaveric orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). However, some LDALTs fail and require urgent OLT or result in recipient death. Our aim was to determine the basis of LDALT failure. Liver specimens from 49 LDALT recipients were evaluated and the findings correlated with clinical outcome. Ten patients (20.4%) had either early (< 1 month) or late (> 1 month) graft failure. Eight early failures, 7 of which occurred among our first 25 cases, were due to extensive liver parenchymal necrosis as a result of hepatic artery thrombosis (n=3), portal vein thrombosis (n= 1), hyperperfusion syndrome (n= 1), complete graft thrombosis (n= 1) with Factor V Leiden on a regimen of therapeutic heparin (n=1), sepsis and concomitant graft dysfunction with venous outflow tract injury (n=I), and venous outflow tract thrombosis and parenchymal thermal injury with sepsis (n=1). Preoperative, intraoperative, or postoperative severe vessel wall injury was evident in 6/8 early failures. TWo patients had late graft failure, 1 from recurrent hepatitis C and 1 with sepsis/multisystem organ failure. There were no significant differences in graft size, rejection episodes, or operative or ischemic times between patients with and without graft failure. In conclusion, LDALT failed in 10/49 (20%) of our patients, with 8/10 occurring within 1 month post-LDALT owing to vascular/thrombotic complications experienced during the early phase of our institutional experience. Perioperative vessel wall injury appeared to be a major factor in predicting early graft loss.

Marked Differences in acute cellular rejection rates between living-donor and deceased-donor liver transplant recipients

BACKGROUND

: Due to ongoing organ donor shortage, an increasing number of adult live-donor liver transplants (LDLT) are being performed. The aims of this study were to compare the incidence of ACR between recipients of live- and deceased-donor liver transplants, and to note any differences in ACR among related and unrelated living-donor recipients.

METHODS

: Sixty-four adults undergoing LDLT between 1998-2001 were closely matched with a deceased recipient. Statistical comparisons in ACR between the live- and deceased-donor groups were based on the differences between the ACR rates of each LDLT patient and the corresponding matched deceased recipient. Analyses were performed separately for pairs in which the living donor was not related to the recipient, was a nonsibling relative, or was a sibling.

RESULTS

: Live- and deceased-donor recipients underwent a similar number of liver biopsies. In all, 16/50 (32%) of the biopsied LDLT patients had ACR compared to 36/49 (73%) of the deceased-donor recipients. ACR rates of living donors and their deceased-donor matches did not differ significantly for the unrelated living donors, but did differ for the nonsibling related (P=0.03) and the sibling LDLT (P=0.03). The results were similar when comparing rates of high-degree ACR for unrelated, nonsibling related, and sibling pairs. High-degree ACR differences in the sibling LDLT group were significantly greater than in the nonsibling group (P=0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

: Rates of ACR and high-degree ACR are decreased in living-related liver transplant recipients. This difference is likely genetically related as ACR rates are lower in recipient-donor pairs of increasing genetic similarity.

Early postoperative complications in recipients of living donor liver transplantation

PURPOSE

Complications are common in the early postoperative period after living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). The aims of this analysis were to describe and identify risk factors for early postoperative complications.

METHODS

Between June 1994 and June 2003, 140 consecutive LDLT patients were divided into 3 groups: group I was small infants <9 kg (n = 30); group II, pediatric patients (n = 63); and group III, adult patients (n = 47). The complications within 3 months after operation were analyzed.

RESULTS

The mortality rate was 1.4%. Surgical complications requiring relaparotomy occurred in 7.9% of patients. Intraoperative portal vein thrombosis requiring immediate thrombectomy, which occurred in 10 patients, was significantly more frequent in the small infant group (23.1% vs 3.2% vs 2.1%; P < .01). Acute hepatic artery thrombosis that occurred in 2 patients was remedied successfully using operative rearterilization. Hepatic outflow obstruction requiring radiological interventions developed in 5 subjects. Medical complications included the following: pulmonary (14.3%), renal (19.3%), bacteremia (10.7%), cytomegalovirus infection (9.3%), and drain-related infections (20.7%). The incidence of hospital-acquired renal insufficiency was significantly higher in adult patients (3.3% vs 14.3% vs 36.2%; P < .01). There was no significant difference in the incidence of acute cellular rejection between members of the 3 groups (10.0% vs 17.5% vs 17%; P = .63).

CONCLUSIONS

Sophisticated postoperative care with multiple disciplinary involvements may achieve a low early mortality rate in LDLT. Small infants weighing <9 kg may carry a greater risk of intraoperative portal vein thrombosis. Pulmonary complications and renal function impairments were the most troublesome in pediatric and adult recipients, respectively.

Is there still a need for living-related liver transplantation in children?

OBJECTIVE

To assess and compare the value of split-liver transplantation (SLT) and living-related liver transplantation (LRT).

SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA

The concept of SLT results from the development of reduced-size transplantation. A further development of SLT, the in situ split technique, is derived from LRT, which itself marks the optimized outcome in terms of postoperative graft function and survival. The combination of SLT and LRT has abolished deaths on the waiting list, thus raising the question whether living donor liver transplantation is still necessary.

METHODS

Outcomes and postoperative liver function of 43 primary LRT patients were compared with those of 49 primary SLT patients (14 ex situ, 35 in situ) with known graft weight performed between April 1996 and December 2000. Survival rates were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method.

RESULTS

After a median follow-up of 35 months, actual patient survival rates were 82% in the SLT group and 88% in the LRT group. Actual graft survival rates were 76% and 81%, respectively. The incidence of primary nonfunction was 12% in the SLT group and 2.3% in the LRT group. Liver function parameters (prothrombin time, factor V, bilirubin clearance) and surgical complication rates did not differ significantly. In the SLT group, mean cold ischemic time was longer than in the LRT group. Serum values of alanine aminotransferase during the first postoperative week were significantly higher in the SLT group. In the LRT group, there were more grafts with signs of fatty degeneration than in the SLT group.

CONCLUSIONS

The short- and long-term outcomes after LRT and SLT did not differ significantly. To avoid the risk for the donor in LRT, SLT represents the first-line therapy in pediatric liver transplantation in countries where cadaveric organs are available. LRT provides a solution for urgent cases in which a cadaveric graft cannot be found in time or if the choice of the optimal time point for transplantation is vital.

Adult-to-adult live donor liver transplantation: a short-term clinicopathologic study

With the success of pediatric live donor liver transplantation (LDLT) and the continued shortage of cadaveric donors, adult-to-adult LDLT has been performed at some centers, including ours. We performed a detailed histologic review of all liver specimens obtained from 9 adult recipients at and after LDLT and correlated these findings with the patients' course and outcome. Five patients had histologic evidence of biliary tract pathology; 3 of 5 required surgical or radiologic intervention. The other 2 had clinically insignificant biliary disease. Diffuse hepatocytic hemorrhagic necrosis secondary to massive portal blood flow after portal venous revascularization resulted in graft failure and retransplantation in a single patient with severe preoperative portal hypertension. Two perioperative deaths were caused by sepsis and multiorgan failure (day 25) and generalized thrombosis related to factor V Leiden (day 6). The preoperative diagnosis, presence of portal vein thrombosis in the native liver, postoperative cholangiopathy, and subcapsular hemorrhagic necrosis in donor liver wedge biopsies did not affect the short-term outcome. In conclusion, biliary tract pathology is common after adult-to-adult LDLT but does not negatively affect graft or patient survival. Infrequent but catastrophic vascular complications related to portal hemodynamics or thrombosis can result in graft loss and/or patient death.

Liver transplantation. Living donor, hepatocyte, and xenotransplantation

Liver transplantation is now accepted as effective therapy in the treatment of acute and chronic hepatic failure. Improvements in surgical techniques and immune suppression have led to 5-year survival rates that exceed 70% in most centers. The success of transplantation has led to a dramatic increase in the number of candidates to over 14,000 places on the national waiting list. While the number of patients in need of transplantation increases, there has been little growth in the supply of available cadaveric organs, resulting in an organ shortage crisis. With waiting times often exceeding 1 to 2 years, the waiting list mortality now exceeds 10% in most regions. Several novel approaches have been developed to address the growing disparity between the limited supply and excessive demand for suitable organs.

Successful hepatic vein reconstruction in 42 consecutive living related liver transplantations

BACKGROUND

In living related liver transplantation (LRLT), reconstruction of the hepatic vein (HV) by end-to-end anastomosis has been reported to be associated with acute or late outflow block.

METHODS

We reviewed 42 patients who underwent LRLT from January 1996 to September 1998.

RESULTS

In 7 (27%) of the 26 donor grafts obtained from left lateral segmentectomy or extended lateral segmentectomy and in 9 (56%) of the 16 grafts obtained from left lobectomy, venoplasty was required. In the remaining 26 grafts, 1-orifice left HV was obtained. In addition to the division of the duct of Arantius, the left inferior phrenic vein was divided routinely in 16 patients, which contributed to reducing the venoplasty rate from 46% to 25% (P =.1704). In all 42 patients, HV was reconstructed successfully by end-to-end anastomosis. The median ratio of the diameter of the recipient's HV to that of the graft's HV was 1.2 (range, 0.8-2.1). The grafts were fixed to the abdominal wall by using the falciform and round ligaments at a site where Doppler ultrasound showed sufficient flow in the respective vessels. Three patients developed late-onset HV obstruction and required balloon dilatation either by means of a venous route or a transhepatic route: 1 patient received a new liver on the 232nd postoperative day, 1 patient died of sepsis without outflow block, and the last patient is doing well.

CONCLUSIONS

In LRLT, the division of the duct of Arantius and the left inferior phrenic vein followed by extensive clamping of the common trunk contributed to obtaining a 1-orifice HV. This facilitates anastomosis of the HVs of the grafts to the recipients' HVs, and fixation of the grafts by using the falciform and round ligaments prevents rotation of the grafts and subsequent acute outflow block.

The oral microbiota of children undergoing liver transplantation

This study investigated the oral microbiota of children undergoing liver transplantation. Oral swabs were taken using a standardized procedure from 27 children before liver transplantation and at 3 and 100 days post-transplantation and from 27 healthy controls at baseline and 90 days. Viridans streptococci, yeasts, staphylococci, enterococci and Enterobacteriaceae were enumerated and identified using conventional techniques. The oral microbiota of the patients changed significantly immediately post-transplantation, but by the final examination, it had returned to baseline levels. The oral microbiota of the controls did not change significantly. The numbers and proportions of Streptococcus salivarius, Streptococcus sanguis and Streptococcus gordonii as percentages of the total streptococcal counts and of the total anaerobic counts decreased significantly 3 days post-transplantation (P < or = 0.006). There were no significant changes in the numbers and proportions of Streptococcus oralis and Streptococcus mitis isolated pre- and post-transplantation. The isolation frequencies and numbers of yeasts were significantly higher in patients than controls. Staphylococci were isolated in low numbers from all children. Enterococci and Enterobacteriaceae were isolated infrequently from patients.

[Liver transplantation in infants and children. Evaluation of the first 40 cases (March 1991-March 1997)]

BACKGROUND

Liver transplantation (LT) is the treatment of end-stage liver disease in children. We report our experience with LT using grafts from living related (LRD) and cadaver donors (CD).

POPULATION

From March 1991 to March 1997, 40 children and infants received a total of 42 liver grafts. A reduced-size liver was used in 28 cases. We studied pre-transplantation status, survival rate, and medical and surgical complications in these patients.

RESULTS

The survival rate in our series was respectively 85 and 80% at 1 and 7 years after LT. Low weight infants required a prolonged ventilatory assistance. Five of the six deaths noticed during the first three months after LT occurred in children weighing less than 12 kg. One year after LT, no significant difference in the incidence of rejection was found, neither between low-weight children and the others, nor between patients transplanted from CD or LRD. Biliary tract stricture was the major surgical complication.

CONCLUSION

This series consisted of a majority of low-weight children. The survival rate in the patients weighting less than 12 kg is lower than in the others. This may be explained by the nutritional status of these patients and early postsurgical complications. The use of grafts from living donors offers more flexibility since the operation is performed electively, but it did not seem to modify the incidence of acute rejections and surgical complications.